Skin Infections and Infestations Flashcards
What is folliculitis?
- follicular erythma or pustules
- can be infectious or non-infectious
What is the main cause of recurrent infectious folliculitis?
Staph aureus strains expressing PVL
What is the main cause of eosiniphilic non-infectious folliculitis?
HIV
What are the treatments for follliculitis?
- antibiotics (flucloxacillin or erythromycin)
- incision and drainage of furuncles
What is a furuncle?
Deep follicular abcess
What is a carbuncle?
- furuncle that has involvement with adjacent follicles
- more likely to lead to complications
What is PVL?
- panton valentine leukocidin
- pore-forming exotoxin
- causes leukocyte destruction and tissue necrosis
- has higher morbidity, mortality and transmissability than other strains of staph
What are the 5 risks of acquiring PVL Staph aureus?
- close contact
- contaminated items
- crowding
- cleanliness
- cuts and grazes
What is the treatment of PVL Staph aureus?
- antibiotics (tetracycline)
- chlorhexidine body wash
- nasal mupirocin ointment
- treatment of close contacts
What is cellulitis?
- infection of lower dermis and subcutaneous tissue
- tender swelling with ill-defined erythma and oedema
What are the most common causes of cellulitis?
- streptococcus pyogenes
- staphylococcus aureus
What is the treatment of cellulitis?
Systemic antibiotics
What is impetigo?
- superficial bacterial infection
- honey-covered crusts overlaying erosion
- often affects face
What causes impetigo?
- streptococci (non-bullous)
- staphylococci (bullous)
What is borreliosis?
Lyme disease
What are the symptoms of borreliosis?
- annular erythma around site of tick bite
- multiple secondary lesions
- facial palsy
- aseptic meningitis
- polyradiculitis
- arthirits
- carditis
What is syphilis?
- Treponema pallidum
- starts with chancre - painless ulcer with firm border
- painless regional lymphadenopathy one week after primary chancre
What happens in secondary syphilis?
- starts ~50 days after primary chancre
- malaise
- fever
- headache
- itchiness
- loss of appetite
- pityriasis rosea-like rash
- alopecia
- mucous pathces
- hepatosplenomegaly
What is lues maligna?
- rare manifestation of secondary syphilis
- skin lesions with necrotising vasculitis
- more frequent in HIV
What happens in tertiary syphilis?
- gumma skin lesions
- mucosal lesions destroy nasal cartilage
- cardiovascular disease
- neurosyphilis
How is syphilis diagnosed?
- clinical findings
- serology
- strong index of suspicion
How do you treat syphilis?
IM benzylpenicillin or oral tetracycline
What is herpes simplex virus?
- virus which causes recurrent vesicular eruptions
- favours orolabial and genital regions
- transmission can occur during asymptomatic viral shedding
- replicates at mucocutaneous site of infection
How is HSV transmitted?
- HSV-1 = direct contact eith contaminated saliva or other secretions
- HSV-2 = sexual contact
